Friday, January 29, 2021

A Happily Ever After


After the last few letters I have shared from former German POWs I have felt defeated, saddened and depressed for the appalling conditions that were described in them.
   

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is an international memorial day on January 27th that commemorates the victims of the Holocaust, the genocide of European Jews by Nazi Germany between 1941 and 1945. January 27th was chosen to commemorate the date that Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated in 1945.

Yesterday as I scrolled through social media I found this story.  Often times the longer stories get skipped over because people can have a very short attention span... but this one is worth reading.  For that reason, I am sharing here...

Marcel Sternberger was a methodical man of nearly 50, with bushy white hair, guileless brown eyes, and the bouncing enthusiasm of a czardas dancer of his native Hungary. He always took the 9:09 Long Island Railroad train from his suburban home to Woodside, N.Y.., where he caught a subway into the city.
On the morning of January 10, 1948, Sternberger boarded the 9:09 as usual. En route, he suddenly decided to visit Laszlo Victor, a Hungarian friend who lived in Brooklyn and was ill.

Accordingly, at Ozone Park, Sternberger changed to the subway for Brooklyn, went to his friend’s house, and stayed until midafternoon. He then boarded a Manhattan-bound subway for his Fifth Avenue office. Here is Marcel’s incredible story:

The car was crowded, and there seemed to be no chance of a seat. But just as I entered, a man sitting by the door suddenly jumped up to leave, and I slipped into the empty place. I’ve been living in New York long enough not to start conversations with strangers. But being a photographer, I have the peculiar habit of analyzing people’s faces, and I was struck by the features of the passenger on my left. He was probably in his late 30s, and when he glanced up, his eyes seemed to have a hurt expression in them. He was reading a Hungarian-language newspaper, and something prompted me to say in Hungarian, “I hope you don’t mind if I glance at your paper.”

The man seemed surprised to be addressed in his native language. But he answered politely, “You may read it now. I’ll have time later on.”

During the half-hour ride to town, we had quite a conversation. He said his name was Bela Paskin. A law student when World War II started, he had been put into a German labor battalion and sent to the Ukraine. Later he was captured by the Russians and put to work burying the German dead. After the war, he covered hundreds of miles on foot until he reached his home in Debrecen, a large city in eastern Hungary.

I myself knew Debrecen quite well, and we talked about it for a while. Then he told me the rest of his story. When he went to the apartment once occupied by his father, mother, brothers and sisters, he found strangers living there. Then he went upstairs to the apartment that he and his wife once had. It also was occupied by strangers. None of them had ever heard of his family.

As he was leaving, full of sadness, a boy ran after him, calling “Paskin bacsi! Paskin bacsi!” That means “Uncle Paskin.” The child was the son of some old neighbors of his. He went to the boy’s home and talked to his parents. “Your whole family is dead,” they told him. “The Nazis took them and your wife to Auschwitz.”

Auschwitz was one of the worst Nazi concentration camps. Paskin gave up all hope. A few days later, too heartsick to remain any longer in Hungary, he set out again on foot, stealing across border after border until he reached Paris. He managed to immigrate to the United States in October 1947, just three months before I met him.

All the time he had been talking, I kept thinking that somehow his story seemed familiar. A young woman whom I had met recently at the home of friends had also been from Debrecen; she had been sent to Auschwitz; from there she had been transferred to work in a German munitions factory. Her relatives had been killed in the gas chambers. Later she was liberated by the Americans and was brought here in the first boatload of displaced persons in 1946.

Her story had moved me so much that I had written down her address and phone number, intending to invite her to meet my family and thus help relieve the terrible emptiness in her life.

It seemed impossible that there could be any connection between these two people, but as I neared my station, I fumbled anxiously in my address book. I asked in what I hoped was a casual voice, “Was your wife’s name Marya?”

He turned pale. “Yes!” he answered. “How did you know?”

He looked as if he were about to faint.

I said, “Let’s get off the train.” I took him by the arm at the next station and led him to a phone booth. He stood there like a man in a trance while I dialed her phone number.

It seemed hours before Marya Paskin answered. (Later I learned her room was alongside the telephone, but she was in the habit of never answering it because she had so few friends and the calls were always for someone else. This time, however, there was no one else at home and, after letting it ring for a while, she responded.)

When I heard her voice at last, I told her who I was and asked her to describe her husband. She seemed surprised at the question, but gave me a description. Then I asked her where she had lived in Debrecen, and she told me the address.

Asking her to hold the line, I turned to Paskin and said, “Did you and your wife live on such-and-such a street?”

“Yes!” Bela exclaimed. He was white as a sheet and trembling.

“Try to be calm,” I urged him. “Something miraculous is about to happen to you. Here, take this telephone and talk to your wife!”

He nodded his head in mute bewilderment, his eyes bright with tears. He took the receiver, listened a moment to his wife’s voice, then suddenly cried, “This is Bela! This is Bela!” and he began to mumble hysterically. Seeing that the poor fellow was so excited he couldn’t talk coherently, I took the receiver from his shaking hands.

“Stay where you are,” I told Marya, who also sounded hysterical. “I am sending your husband to you. We will be there in a few minutes.”

Bela was crying like a baby and saying over and over again. “It is my wife. I go to my wife!”

At first I thought I had better accompany Paskin, lest the man should faint from excitement, but I decided that this was a moment in which no strangers should intrude. Putting Paskin into a taxicab, I directed the driver to take him to Marya’s address, paid the fare, and said goodbye.

Bela Paskin’s reunion with his wife was a moment so poignant, so electric with suddenly released emotion, that afterward neither he nor Marya could recall much about it.

“I remember only that when I left the phone, I walked to the mirror like in a dream to see if maybe my hair had turned gray,” she said later. “The next thing I know, a taxi stops in front of the house, and it is my husband who comes toward me. Details I cannot remember; only this I know—that I was happy for the first time in many years.....

“Even now it is difficult to believe that it happened. We have both suffered so much; I have almost lost the capability to not be afraid. Each time my husband goes from the house, I say to myself, “Will anything happen to take him from me again?”

Her husband is confident that no horrible misfortune will ever again befall the. “Providence has brought us together,” he says simply. “It was meant to be.”

Skeptical persons will no doubt attribute the events of that memorable afternoon to mere chance. But was it chance that made Marcel Sternberger suddenly decide to visit his sick friend and hence take a subway line that he had never ridden before? Was it chance that caused the man sitting by the door of the car to rush out just as Sternberger came in? Was it chance that caused Bela Paskin to be sitting beside Sternberger, reading a Hungarian newspaper'

Paul Deutschman, Great Stories Remembered, 
edited and compiled by Joe L. Wheeler

As I read this story I had the sickening and heart-wrenching realization that the German POWs that had returned home only to become part of the Russian POW population were the ones digging the graves of the Holocaust victims.  

I am left speechless. Oh, how I wish I would get a response from Klaus Hesselbarth's family!  I wish more stories of happy reunions were available... stories of survival... stories of happiness and joy...  more stories of "happily ever after".

Never forget!  And I can only hope that history never repeats itself in this way or to this devastation again.  🕯

Shalom,

Melva



Block #18 -  Double T - is still available and the link is still open.  Link up to be entered into a drawing for a free fat quarter!

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along
that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Tuesday To-Do Two Days Late

A day late and a dollar short... okay two days late!  But I have been busy in my studio and having such a great time creating that I just didn't want to sit at the computer.

The last To Do List was...

 ✔  Research for the wrap up of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along Series and the beginning of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail. 

I have written stories and collected bits of history for the final two blocks - all I have to do is the final wrap-up of the series that will include the cutting instructions for the borders and binding.  

Like a few months ago, I am a bit melancholy about the end of this series approaching and haven't had the heart to write up a final story... 😭  


I have collected from my Mom the necessary information for the Santa Fe Trail series and the fabric I ordered arrived.  

I've exercised great restraint in not even opening the packages the fabric arrived in.  I am using that opportunity as a sort of "reward" for when I get the wrap-up post written.  I don't need one more distraction right now.  LOL!


✔  Perhaps another Chapel postcard or journal?

I had a request for a mug rug (hand-sewn hello postcard) from my Mom.  She needed a gift for a friend that has a birthday just around the corner.  (How is it possible that February is nearly here???)

This is Fishers Peak, the landmark that all locals are familiar with, and it happens to be the newest addition to the Colorado State Park System.  For many years the peak has been privately owned and is now accessible to the public.  A long awaited hope and dream of residents.

The sky and foothills fabric was from a workshop that I attended a few years ago that taught wax resist dying - a technique used in making batik fabrics.



✔  Purchase fabric for Hanna's giraffe quilt

I discovered there was no need to purchase fabric after searching my stash.  Woohoo!  I had the top completed last week and quilted it over the weekend. 

All that is left to do is to make a label.  I will wait until her arrival to do that so that I can include her date of birth.  And never really knows... maybe her name will change before May.  I hope not because, as silly as it seems, I have already become attached to Hanna.  

So up next?  

My sister-in-law had sent me a link (a few years ago) for a video  of a "paper-doll" quilt.  It is a brilliant idea!  You can design it to look like the recipient.  Maybe you have seen it... 

I then found a picture of a quilt with multiple "dolls" in different settings such as a beach or park as well as different clothing styles like winter or summer and various "careers" and diversity.  But the clothes were not changeable like the first doll was.  

❧  I am working on a "mash-up" of the two.  Multiple "dolls" with changeable clothes.  I will be making two quilts for our grand-daughters and their birthdays this summer.  These two are my "proto-types".  I'll continue on these two and see about designing some clothes for them before making a whole quilt full of them only to discover that the clothes don't work out.



❧  I'm expecting to receive a box of t-shirts from a customer to finish one t-shirt quilt and make a second one.  One was started and I'm not sure if she was intimidated by the process or if she just decided that she didn't have time.  Whatever the reason, I will be "working" in the near future.


And for those that were interested in the scrap de-stash... THANK YOU!  Happiness abounds in my scrap bin... as I begin again. :)

Before you go, tell me...

Do you ever "reward" yourself as an incentive to get a task done?

Leave a comment... you know I love to hear from you!

Stay piecing!

Melva


Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!
Linking with:

Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting
To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch
Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie
Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty
Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More
Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch
Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy
UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts


Friday, January 22, 2021

Pinky the Giraffe


I introduce to you Pinky The Giraffe.  Our little gal Hanna will be arriving in May and her Momma wants to decorate the nursery with giraffes.  Based on a crib set that was included in her registry, I decided to do a patchwork single giraffe... in pink and grey.

I was doubtful about how it would look, but I am totally in love with her!

On my Tuesday To Do list I stated that I needed to purchase fabric for the quilt... turns out I didn't need to purchase any at all!  

This is all from my stash and scraps.  Even after purging from my over-filled scrap bin!  




Happiness is... sending off all the scraps that had been requested and paid for.


All I have left is green, brown and black... LOTS of green!

Still available, Here's the deal... You can choose the color/s that you want - all you have to do is pay for shipping ~ $10 for an envelope or $20 for a box (stuffed to their capacity!) to cover the cost of priority mail postage and to print a label (US addresses only).  

Send me an email at MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com with your request and I will then give you my paypal or venmo username.  You send the payment with a mailing address and I will print off a label and send the envelope or box off to you.



Funny story ~ The other day Dave had some jeans that needed repaired.  Now, I know there are plenty of jokes about quilters not hemming pants or repairing items, but I do it all!

I saw this picture on social media and asked him if I could patch his pants like this...

He didn't think it was funny... so I just did a boring ol' repair.

The last time our grand-daughters were here, one of them had a hole in the knee of her pants.  Grandpa had stated "Grandma could fix that for you."  Had they been staying for a few more days, I really would  have patched her pants like this.  =D

Does anyone else remember when patchwork and embroidery repairs on jeans was in style?  Ok, maybe I am aging myself... but back in the 70's - bell bottom jeans... Anybody?  Lol!

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear if you remember this as well. 

Keep Piecing!

Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Linking with:

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie
Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty
Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More
Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch
Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy
UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts




Monday, January 18, 2021

To-Do is Done Plus

Last week's list is complete and done!  I do love a productive week, though getting through it can sometimes be difficult with distractions all along the way. 

✔Complete the quilting on the poppies table runner


This was FUN!  The matchstick quilting offers texture and I had fun using a variety of colors from my Aurifil thread collection.  


Using more scraps from the improv poppies I made the binding and did big-stitches with orange embroidery floss to add to the modern look of the table runner.




Choose a quilt pattern for a giraffe quilt for the new grand-daughter that is due to arrive in early May.  

This little guy will be the quilt for our little Hanna, but in pinks and greys. 💗🖤

Continue participating in the #31dayswithcottoncuts on instagram - Each day, post a picture related to the date's number. You can see all of my pictures by following the link above.





Here's a peek at what I have shared so far...





The "plus" item that I created was this little journal.  Using the same chapel picture that I used last week, I made this one with more of a "winter" setting.

I was giggling while digging in the piles of scraps that I sorted over the weekend.  But don't worry... they are still sorted and still in abundance!  You can see the whole story of why I sorted by following the link on the word "weekend" above.

Oh, BTW, do YOU need any scraps that would be perfect for string-piecing scrappy blocks?  

I have lots!    


Here's the deal... You can choose the color/s that you want - all you have to do is pay for shipping ($10 to cover the cost of priority mail postage and to print a label to US addresses - $35 for international).  If you are interested send me an email at MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com with your color choice/s and I will give you my paypal or venmo account info.  Once I receive payment I will stuff the priority mail envelope full, slap a label on it and send it off to you.

I have had requests for the yellow X'd piles but awaiting actual payment... first money gets the deal!

Our travel plans ran into a bit of an issue, so this is what I resorted to... sorting. **sigh** but I will stop my pouting and move forward because a friend so gently reminded me - "You don't know what God is protecting you from."  Okay, okay, okay...

So what sort of projects do I have in mind for the coming week?  Hmmmm... nothing too exciting.

❧  Some necessary research for the wrap up of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along Series and the beginning of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail.  The fabric I selected for the blocks will be arriving this week. YAY! Because Marion Sloan Russell made her first journey on the trail in 1852, I selected some Civil War reproduction fabrics.  

❧  Perhaps another Chapel postcard or journal?

❧  Purchase fabric for Hanna's giraffe quilt

We have snow predicted for over night and for most of tomorrow (Tuesday).  I love to watch the snow fall outside the window in my studio.  I MUST do something in there while I have the crockpot going with one of my No Guilt::Go Quilt recipes.  Enjoy!


Before you go though... Leave a comment telling me ~

Where is your favorite place to watch snow coming down outside?

Have a great week!

Stay Piece-ful,

Melva

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us
Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch
Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Saturday, January 16, 2021

Scraps Gone Crazy

So, here's the deal... My scrap bin had become unmanageable and I couldn't stand it any longer.




I started sorting by color, basically because I had been asked by someone "What's your plan for the 2021 Rainbow Scrap Challenge?"  I didn't have a plan, to be honest.  

I have shoved the left-over bits and pieces of completed quilts and projects into this bin and have drug it out whenever I wanted to do some tiny quilts.  And when I first started shoving the bits and pieces into the bin I did have a plan to "someday" make a string-pieced quilt.

As I sorted by colors it was like an archeological dig through the years as I recalled the various quilts that the scraps came from.  Fond memories... *sigh*  But I kept asking myself "Why are you doing this?  What are your plans for these?  Why are you holding onto them?"  

It was at that point that I decided I would part with most of them.  


Here's the deal... You can choose the color/s that you want - all you have to do is pay for shipping ($10 to cover the cost of priority mail postage and to print a label).  If you are interested send me an email at MelvaLovesScraps@NolanQualityCustoms.com with your color choice/s and I will give you my paypal or venmo account info.  Once I receive payment I will stuff the priority mail envelope full, slap a label on it and send it off to you.

UPDATE::  I have had requests for the yellow X'd piles but am awaiting actual payment... first money gets the deal!



It is a win-win deal.  You have a new supply of scraps and I have an emptier bin.

I feel better already!  

Now tell me... what's your flavor?  

Or maybe you have an idea or suggestion for a really cool string quilt that I just HAVE to make?

Leave a comment... I love to hear from you.

Stay Pieceful,

Melva
Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!

Linking with:

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy
UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland
Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework
Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate


Thursday, January 14, 2021

Pieces From The Past - Double T Block

Today's letter is a second plea for help... a follow-up of Klaus Hesselbarth's letter that was published with the The Rolling Stone Block (#13).


Jan. 18, 1948

Dear honored Mr. Schleich:

You will be surprised at receiving a letter from Germany.  I am the mother of one of the German POWs who worked for you in the Summer and Fall of 1945.  You would remember my son, he felt, since you always called him Fritz.  You were always good and kind to my son and for that I thank you with my whole heart.  

Great need makes it necessary for me to write to you today.  We were driven out of East Prussia, have lost everything and now we live in Muhlenhagen in the Russian Zone of Germany.  My son works for a farmer in the West and because of the borders between the zones, we cannot be together with him.  We would be so grateful to you if it would be possible for you to supply us with a packet of warm things.  We need everything and anything would be welcome.  Hopefully this letter reaches you.  My son has already written to you, but unfortunately received no response.  

With heartfelt regards,

Mrs. Margarete Hesselbarth

This mother's heartbreak and concern for her son is evident.  The request for "warm things" makes me wonder if she was requesting one of the CARE packages...

The first CARE Packages contained:

one pound (450 g) of beef in broth
one pound (450 g) of steak and kidneys
8 ounces (230 g) of liver loaf
8 ounces (230 g) of corned beef
12 ounces (340 g) of luncheon loaf (like Spam)
8 ounces (230 g) of bacon
two pounds (910 g) of margarine
one pound (450 g) of lard
one pound (450 g) of fruit preserves
one pound (450 g) of honey
one pound (450 g) of raisins
one pound (450 g) of chocolate
two pounds (910 g) of sugar
8 ounces (230 g) of powdered eggs
two pounds (910 g) of whole-milk powder
two pounds (910 g) of coffee

Or, was she requesting clothing, socks, scarves, gloves, hats, etc.?  She does state that they were in need of everything and anything would be welcome.

I have not given up hope of hearing from Mr. Hesselbarth's family... Remember, one of my reader's located an obituary from 2012 for him that included an address for the family.  I sent a letter to them but, sadly, have not had a response.  It is still somewhat encouraging that the letter has not been returned to me either.  Perhaps the family is still trying to determine how to respond...

So, as we await a response from them let's focus on the Double T Block.  As I researched the history of this block there is some belief that the 'T' stood for Temperance, as explained here...

A "T" For Temperance or Teetotaler?
Women's Temperance Movement: Temperance Quilt
The word "temperance" implies use in moderation and indeed those who pledged temperance could still drink wine and beer. On the other hand a "teetotaler" forswore all alcohol.  

There were stories told of the POWs making beer and wine while at Camp Trinidad.  After the discovery of the escape tunnel the American soldiers "entered the compound in full force and searched every nook and cranny."  They found stills for fermenting alcohol, a crude short-wave sending and receiving unit, a makeshift printing press with forged documents and other items that were considered illicit.

And let's not forget about the conversation that I shared with the Friendship Block when my Dad talked about his brother Leroy telling one of the guards to leave a prisoner alone stating, "I was the one who gave him that beer."


My cousin, Glenda, shared a recipe for homemade beer from her Dad.  When I showed it to Dave he was less than impressed since he and a friend made beer on a regular basis for several years.  Every step of the process took two hours and sampling and taste tests of other beer were required.  LOL!  🤣  Also, I'm not sure of the amount of malt required.  Hmmmm... 1/2 cup?  1/2 gallon?  It doesn't much matter... When I asked my cousins if they had any memory of beer making, the oldest of my cousins (Howard) stated "Yes. my dad and Bill made this type of beer. Horrible!!!!!"

Jump over to Payhip to download the free pattern now.  But before you go, tell me something...

I have some preliminary ideas for another Block of the Month/Sew Along featuring history of the Santa Fe Trail and an ancestor that made the journey multiple times in her life.  

Would you prefer a 9-block BOM?
Or 12 blocks - continuing with the familiar timing of this sew along - a new block every three weeks?

Either way I would wrap it all up by the end of the year... Leave a comment with your input.  

Don't forget to come back and link up for the opportunity to win a free fat quarter.  Be sure to use the hashtag #PiecesFromThePastSewAlong and tag me on IG - @MelvaLovesScraps or on fb at Melva Loves Scraps.  I love seeing all of your blocks!

Happy Piecing!

Melva


Linking with:

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese
Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation
BOMs Away at What A Hoot Quilts
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie
Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty
Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More
Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting
Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Monday, January 11, 2021

DrEAMIs and To-Dos

It has been weeks since I have spent any significant amount of time in my studio... not that I haven't been doing plenty with quilty projects.  The bulk of my time has been on the computer writing and researching for the last few stories for the Pieces From The Past Sew Along.

I had been stalled for three or four days and then last Tuesday the floodgates opened and my fingers flew over the keyboard.  The ideas flowed and I felt good about it... I hope that all of you will feel the same about what is to come.  


There are only three more blocks in the sew along.  How are you doing with them?  I saw that several quilters were catching up between Christmas and New Years.  Here are a few new ones. :)  I hope that you, like me, appreciate how unique and diverse the blocks are with the varied color selections, values and fabric styles.  My excitement grows with each block that I see and my anticipation of the finished quilts is ever-growing.  I think that my Grandma Schleich would feel the same...

On Saturday I realized that while I had been doing quilty "stuff" on the computer, my creativity was waning.  I pulled out a couple of improv poppies that I had started in November and considered what I could do with them.  








I drug out my overflowing scrap bin and found a variety of greens to create background fillers for the poppies, combined the 12 inch blocks with the giant poppy print that inspired these blocks, added a border and created a table runner. 


The plan is to do some match-stick quilting on this runner and then a scrappy border with oranges and red-oranges like I included in the poppies.  I'll add a pop of green and a tiny bit of purple like the giant print fabric has.

That was my plan... but before I could implement said plan I was distracted with a DrEAMI project.  You know... Drop Everything And Make It.  I was scrolling through social media and came across this post... 

"from a dad rocking his baby and thinking about the crazy things that have happened in our country".  And I was quickly reminded of a painting of a little white chapel I had seen last year.


Don’t feel sorry for or fear for your kids because the world they are going to grow up in is not what it used to be. God created them and called them for the exact moment in time that they’re in. Their life wasn’t a coincidence or an accident.

Raise them up to know the power they walk in as children of God. Train them up in the authority of His Word. Teach them to walk in faith knowing that God is in control. Empower them to know they can change the world. Don’t teach them to be fearful and disheartened by the state of the world but hopeful that they can do something about it.

Every person in all of history has been placed in the time that they were in because of God’s sovereign plan. He knew Daniel could handle the lions den. He knew David could handle Goliath. He knew Esther could handle Haman. He knew Peter could handle persecution. He knows that your child can handle whatever challenge they face in their life if they trust in Him. He created them specifically for it!





This was where, again, the ideas started flowing!  I NEEDED to recreate this painting in fabric...


In just a few hours this sweet, tiny (5"x7") hand-sewn hello postcard quilt was done.  After practicing for so many years to have accurate and straight seams, trying to create a rustic look with the black stitching was probably the most challenging thing about this DrEAMI project. LOL!  I thought that a more rustic look to the binding would be appropriate. 


Here's a peek at how I did it...  I cut the backing piece a little larger than the postcard, sewed it into place, and then folded in the raw edge.


I then folded it over and stitched it down.

I think it would be a great little "series" of postcards from different angles or seasons.  There happens to be a small chapel down the road that would be a great "model" for the project!
I'll have to consider this... but for now on to my To Do List.

❧  Complete the quilting on the poppies table runner

❧  Choose a quilt pattern for a giraffe quilt for the new grand-daughter that is due to arrive in early May.  

❧  Continue participating in the #31dayswithcottoncuts on instagram - Each day, post a picture related to the date's number. You can see all of my pictures by following the link above.

I'll be doing a little more research and writing to wrap up the current sew along, Pieces From The Past, but I'll probably be jotting down ideas for a new sew along featuring the Santa Fe Trail and stories from one of my ancestors, Marion Sloan Russell.  She traveled the trail numerous times, from Missouri to Santa Fe, in her life.  Her first was in 1852 at the age of 7.

Any suggestions for a name for the new sew along?


Leave a comment... I'd love to hear your suggestions.

Piece Out,
Melva

Melva Loves Scraps - Home of the Pieces From The Past Sew Along

that features vintage Kansas City Star quilt blocks!
Linking with:

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate
Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch
Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt
Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
To Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us
Colour & Inspiration at Clever Chameleon Quilting
Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication
Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter
Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch